Shake, Rattle and Roll’ Earthquake rumbles through Southern Maine and New England

Thursday

Oct 18, 2012 at 9:52 AM

By Ellen W. ToddSanford News Writer

YORK COUNTY — It began like any other council meeting — pledge of allegiance, moment of silence, roll call, town manager’s report — but at 7:12 p.m. the council chambers on the third floor of the Sanford Town Hall Annex began to move.The building shook, shifted, rumbled and shook some more for 10 or 15 seconds while town officials, members of the public and reporters looked around the room and at each other in confusion. When it stopped, Council Chair Alan Walsh asked that everyone evacuate the building immediately and to “use the stairs. Don’t use the elevator.”As they descended the stairs, some wondered if the furnace had blown up, or if a plane had crashed very nearby. Once outside, it became clear that the building and the surrounding area were intact and the word “earthquake” began to spread through the group.That theory was slowly confirmed by people on cell phones.Fran Libby, of Sanford Downtown Legacy, said she had spoken to her daughter who lives in Ipswitch, Mass., and said she had felt an earthquake.Among those attending the Oct. 16 council meeting was Sanford Fire Chief Jeff Rowe, who also confirmed that there had been an earthquake.Twenty minutes later, when the council meeting resumed, Rowe told the council and townspeople that the earthquake had measured 4.5 and was centered in the Lake Arrowhead area of Waterboro.“Local fire and police activity is minimal,” Rowe said, “but dispatch (York County Communications dispatchers) is overwhelmed.”The response was similar in Waterboro, where Fire Chief Matthew Bors said the quake lasted for 15 to 20 seconds, and, although there were lots of calls, there was very minimal damage and no injuries were reported.Bors said at about 8:30 p.m. that there had been some reports of cracked foundations and some people said pictures had fallen off their walls, but that was it.He said the York County Sheriff’s office had gone up to the check on the Ledgemere Dam on Lake Arrowhead, but he hadn’t heard about any damage. Wednesday morning, Bors reported that the dam appeared to be O.K.At JD’s Package Store on Route 5, clerk Charity Morin said that the bottles on the shelves behind the cash register and some of the “nips” (tiny, one-shot bottles of liquor) had fallen, and the whole store was rattling during the quake, but there had been no real damage. Morin said she thought at first that the building had been struck by a vehicle and started to run to the back of the building. When she realized that wasn’t what had happed, Morin said she ran outside to see if a vehicle had hit the side of the building.Bill Earl, who owns Vandy’s, a drive-in restaurant near the Waterboro Fire Station, said it fell like the building had been lifted up and then put back down. Upon inspection of the outside of the building, Earl said he discovered a gap between the building and the sidewalk that hadn’t been there previously, so he decided to close.“I was afraid there might be a pipe broken,” Earl said. He said he would inspect the building in the morning. According to the U.S. Geological Service, the Oct. 16 quake measured 4.0 on the Richter scale and the epicenter was about 6 kilometers, or three miles west of Hollis Center.

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